The Nineteenth Amendment

The Nineteenth Amendment

The most important reform of all—because it affected more than 50 percent of the adult population—gained enough ground during Wilson’s presidency to become law in 1920. The Nineteenth Amendment finally granted adult women the right to vote.

In 1890, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony had helped to found the National American Woman Suffrage Association. The association pushed for voting rights for women on the state level, and by 1901 it had succeeded in four western states. In 1914, Alice Paul formed the Congressional Union for Woman Suffrage, which became the National Woman’s Party in 1916. The party’s goal was simple: to pass an amendment giving women the vote.

Paul and her followers picketed the White House daily, pointing out the inconsistency of Wilson’s position: he supported workers but denied women their rights. They chained themselves to fences when policemen tried to arrest them. Many went on hunger strikes. All these tactics kept the struggle for suffrage in the newspapers and before the public eye.

In 1916, Carrie Chapman Catt devised what was later called “Catt’s Winning Plan.” Adopting her ideas, the association won victories in several states, getting legislation passed that gave women the vote. When the United States entered World War I, women proved their importance to the nation by play- ing a major role in the war effort. President Wilson, recognizing the justice of women’s claim to full rights, spoke out in favor of universal suffrage in 1918. The Nineteenth Amendment was ratified in 1920. At long last, Abigail Adams’s desire that the men running the government should “remember the ladies” had been gratified.

Practice questions for these concepts can be found at:

The Progressive Era Practice Test